The present invention relates generally to a mobile container handler vehicle, and more particularly to a mobile container handler vehicle for handling and top-dumping shipping containers.
Often intermodal rail, water, and over the road shipping containers are used to transport materials such as solid waste and the like. Typically, intermodal containers come in standard sizes and have standardized International Standards Organization (ISO) corner casting interconnects that allow these containers to be carried by trucks, boats, and rail cars. When containers reach their destination such as a landfill, they are unloaded from the rail cars, the boats, or the trucks via overhead cranes or the like and either placed on vehicles for transport and unloading within the landfill area or the material in the containers is dumped in a central area for transfer to conventional dump trucks for transport to the actual dump area. While the use of intermodal containers will be discussed primarily in relation to hauling waste material to landfills, intermodal containers are used in a similar fashion for a variety of bulk commodity haulage applications including, for example, hauling coal from mines to power plants.
Conventional hauling vehicles which transport shipping containers within a landfill area typically dump the hauled material from the shipping containers through a rear hinged door on the containers. Typically, shipping container rear dumping is accomplished in one of two ways. First, rear dumping of the shipping containers can be accomplished by providing the container hauling vehicle with a tilting mechanism which tilts the shipping container allowing the hauled material in the container to slide out the rear of the shipping container. Secondly, rear dumping of the shipping containers can be accomplished by backing the container hauling vehicle onto a tilt platform which tilts the entire container hauling vehicle and shipping container allowing the hauled material in the container to slide out the rear of the shipping container. However, rear dumping of the shipping containers is not the quickest or easiest way to unload material from the shipping containers.
The use of rear-hinged doors on shipping containers can pose serious environmental problems in that leachate, i.e. liquids that may be in the hauled refuse, can leak out of an improperly sealed shipping container door. In order to ensure proper sealing, the rear-hinged doors are held closed with ratchet binders. The rear hinged door ratchet binders must be released manually prior to dumping and then manually reattached once the hauled material is dumped. In addition, any damage to the seal that may have occurred while hauling and dumping material, must be repaired before the shipping container can be used again; otherwise, the potential for additional leachate leaking exists. Thus, shipping containers with rear-hinged doors are problematic because it is both time-consuming to operate and maintain the rear-hinged doors.
Often, when hauled material is dumped from the shipping containers via the hinged rear panel, material gets trapped at the rear of the shipping container because of the physical volume of the load in relation to the size of the rear panel opening. In order to dump the load, the load often has to be pushed or dug away from the end of the shipping container. This can significantly increase the time required to dump the load from each shipping container.
In most instances, the quickest and easiest way to unload a shipping container is the same way in which it is often loaded. Intermodal shipping containers that are used to haul waste material are typically top loaded through the top of the shipping container. Thus, the best way to dump an intermodal shipping container carrying waste or the like can be through the top of the container.
In addition, the flexibility of a shipping container dumping system that uses tilt platforms is limited. When tilt platforms are used, the shipping containers can only be dumped in those areas of the landfill that have a tilt platform. This limits the adaptability of the dumping operations to existing wind conditions which may cause refuse to be blown around as it is dumped. Prior to dumping the shipping containers in an area of the landfill that does not contain a tilt platform, a new tilt platform must be provided or an existing tilt platform must be relocated. However, this is costly and time consuming. Alternatively, dump trucks or container hauling vehicles having their own tilt mechanism could be used to haul the shipping containers to those areas of the landfill not serviced by a tilt platform.
Rear dumping becomes more problematic as the length of the shipping container increases. In particular, vehicles with tilt mechanisms can not be used to rear dump longer shipping containers because of the design problems associated with raising the shipping container to a suitable dump height. For example, in order to rear dump a 40 ft. long shipping container, the vehicle must raise the container to a dump height in excess of 25 ft. Thus, rear dumping of longer shipping containers must be done on a tilt platform. However, because of the length of the longer shipping containers, additional equipment must be provided in order to move the refuse away from the rear of the shipping container as it is being dumped so that the balance of the refuse in the shipping container can fall out.
The use of dump trucks to haul the load from shipping containers dumped at a central point eliminates some of the problems associated with dumping the shipping containers in the actual landfill, but it increases the overall amount of equipment necessary to transfer material from the shipping containers to the final load placement area. In order to use dump trucks to haul material from the shipping containers at a central point to the landfill working site, means must be provided to transfer the hauled material from the shipping containers to the dump trucks. This arrangement is disadvantageous because of the extra cost associated with providing, operating and maintaining the equipment used to transfer the hauled material from the container to the dump truck.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a top-dumping container handler which dumps the hauled material from the shipping containers through the top of the shipping containers.
It is another object to provide a top-dumping container handler that can safely haul and dump shipping containers in an off-road rough terrain environment.
It is a another object to provide a top-dumping container handler which can handle shipping containers with different lengths, widths, and heights.
In accordance with these and other objects of the present invention, a top-dumping container handler is provided. The container handler has unique features which permit it to handle and top-dump shipping containers of various sizes.
In a first embodiment, there is provided a container handler having a tractor and a trailer which has a trailer frame. An upwardly extending support arm is pivotally attached to the trailer frame near each of its ends. The arms pivotally support a container cradle so that the container cradle can rotate relative to the trailer about two longitudinal axes. One axis is defined by the pivotal connection of the container cradle to the arms, while the other axis is defined by the pivotal connection of the support arms to the trailer. The container cradle has a front wall, a rear wall, opposing and parallel sides and a floor.
The container cradle is adapted to receive, hold and dump shipping containers of various sizes. The shipping containers are adapted to hold hauled material and have a front wall, a rear wall, opposing and parallel side walls and a floor. In particular, the container cradle is adapted to receive, hold and dump one 40 ft. long shipping container, one 20 ft. long shipping container, or two 20 ft. long shipping containers. The container cradle is also adapted to handle shipping containers that are either 8 ft. wide or 8xc2xd ft. wide and shipping containers that are 5 ft. or greater in height, including standard 5 ft., 6 ft., 8 ft. and 12 ft. high shipping containers.
In order to ensure that the shipping containers are loaded into the proper location within the container cradle, the container cradle is equipped with a plurality of locating pin assemblies and a plurality of width control assemblies. The locating pin assemblies are adapted to ensure that the shipping containers sit in the proper place within the container cradle. The locating pin assemblies include locating pins which engage corner castings welded in the corners of the shipping containers, as the shipping containers are loaded into the container cradle, thereby guiding the shipping containers into the proper position within the container cradle. In addition, in order to accommodate the different load configurations, the locating pin assemblies are adapted to rotate the locating pins between (1) an engaged or extended position in which the locating pins are disposed for engagement with the shipping container corner castings, and (2) a disengaged or retracted position in which the locating pins are disposed so that they do not interfere with shipping container loading. Means are also provided for selectively rotating into the engaged position only those locating pins that are needed for the particular load configuration being used (e.g., one 40 ft. long shipping container, one 20 ft. long shipping container, or two 20 ft. long shipping containers).
The plurality of width control assemblies are adapted to prevent lateral movement of the shipping containers relative to the container cradle as the shipping containers are being loaded into the container cradle. In particular, the width control assemblies include guide members which engage the bottom comer castings of the shipping containers as they are being lowered into the container cradle, thereby guiding the containers onto the appropriate locating pins. Since the container cradle is adapted to handle shipping containers of two different widths, the width control assemblies are adapted to move the guide members between a wide position for use when 8xc2xd ft. wide shipping containers are being loaded and a narrow position for use when 8 ft. wide shipping containers are being loaded. In order to accommodate the various load configurations of shipping containers that could be either 8 ft. wide or 8xc2xd ft. wide, means are provided for selectively moving the guide members of the width control assemblies between a narrow position and a wider position.
In order to secure the shipping containers in the container cradle once they have been properly placed, the container cradle is equipped with a plurality of hooking assemblies. The hooking assemblies include hook members for engaging the comer castings in the lower comers of the shipping containers. The hooking assemblies are adapted for rotating the hook ends of the hook members between a hooked position in which the hook ends engage the corner castings and an unhooked position in which the hook ends are retracted so as to minimize interference with the loading of shipping containers. Means are also provided for selectively rotating into the hooked position only the hook ends of the hooking assemblies which are appropriate for each different shipping container configuration.
Since the relatively thin side walls of the shipping containers would bear the weight of the load in the containers and potentially deform as the shipping containers are rotated for dumping, the container cradle is equipped with a plurality of sidewall support assemblies. The sidewall support assemblies include a linkage which is adapted to move a longitudinally extending sidewall support panel or member between an extended or engaged position where the sidewall support member contacts the shipping container side wall thereby providing support and a retracted or disengaged position where the sidewall support member is disposed so as to not interfere with the loading of the shipping containers. The linkage is actuated by a hydraulic cylinder which has a hydraulic system adapted to cut out the hydraulic supply and lock in the pressure when the sidewall support member contacts a shipping container side wall.
In order to rotate the container cradle for top-dumping the shipping containers, the container handler is equipped with a pair of dumping assemblies which are disposed at each end of the container cradle. The dumping assemblies are adapted to rotate the container cradle between a centered position in which the container cradle is centered over the trailer frame for loading and transporting the shipping containers, a left dump position in which the shipping containers are dumped to the left side of the container handler, and a right dump position in which the shipping containers are dumped to the right side of the container handler. Each dumping assembly comprises a pair of hydraulic cylinders, a gear system, and one of the arms supporting the container cradle. The gear system comprises a trailer gear which is a partial gear that is mounted on the trailer frame and a container cradle gear which is a partial pinion gear that is mounted on the container cradle.
The dumping assembly is adapted so that the left and right dump positions are not equidistant relative to the center of the container handler. In the right dump position, the center of gravity of the container cradle is closer toward the center of the frame of the container handler. Similarly, the left dump position may be used for dumping loads, such as free-flowing material, when it may be desirable to dump the material farther away from the center of the container handler and the container handler tires.
The dumping assembly is adapted so that simultaneous extension of one of the hydraulic cylinders and retraction of the other hydraulic cylinder causes the arm to rotate about its pivotal connection to the trailer. The rotation of the arm causes the container cradle pinion gear to react with the trailer gear thereby rotating the container cradle about its pivotal connection to the arms in the same rotational direction as the rotation of the arm. Of course, the rotation of the arm about its pivotal connection to the trailer rotates the container cradle about that same axis. Thus, the dumping assembly rotates the container cradle about the axis defined by the pivotal connection of the arms to the trailer and the axis defined by the pivotal connection of the container cradle to the arms. Similarly, the opposite actuation of the hydraulic cylinders causes the arm to rotate in the opposite direction thereby rotating the container cradle, via the reaction of the trailer gear with the container cradle pinion gear, in the opposite direction.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred exemplified embodiment of the invention and upon reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: